Since the establishment of the United Arab Emirates on 2 December 1971, the UAE adopted a balanced foreign policy based on adoption of dialogue, respect of international conventions, commitment to the United Nations Charter and non-interference of other country's internal affairs, and the settlement of disputes by peaceful means

One of the main anchorers of the UAE’s foreign policy has been building cooperation-based relations with all countries of the world. Substantial development assistance has increased the UAE's stature among recipient states. Most of this foreign aid (in excess of $15 billion) has been to Arab and Muslim countries.

Since the establishment of UAE in 1971, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates relations were always at a good level and developing at an unprecedented rate. The bond of friendship between the leaders of both countries has reflected on the growing political, economic and cultural ties between them, as a result, UAE ranks first among Arab and foreign countries investing in Egypt.[2] UAE and Egypt maintain a close economic ties and maintain trade between the two countries with imports and exports between the two sides. The government of UAE by an order from SheikhKhalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan the President of UAE, gave Egypt cargo ships carrying 850,000 tonnes of wheat[when?] as a food gift to the people of Egypt.[3]

Relations between the territories of the present-day United Arab Emirates and Somalia stretch back to antiquity. The 1st century CE Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, among other documents, reports early commercial exchanges between traders inhabiting kingdoms in both areas.[7] During the Middle Ages and early modern period, the various Emirati sultanates also maintained close relations with the Somali Sultanates.

In late March 2013, the Emirati and Somalia Foreign Ministries signed a Memorandum of Understanding on bilateral cooperation. The agreement focuses on the political, security, economic, investment and development sectors.[10]

The United Arab Emirates maintains an embassy in Mogadishu.[11] Additionally, the Somali Federal Government has an embassy in Abu Dhabi.[12]

The UAE’s strategic relationship with the United States dates back to the 1990 invasion of Kuwait. Subsequent to joining the military effort, the two countries signed an agreement in late 1992 allowing for US bases on Emirati soil.[20] July 25, 1994, a formal Defense Cooperation Agreement has been in place.[21] Ten years later, despite publicly opposing the US led war on Iraq, the UAE permitted a minimal amount of US forces to support the operation from the Al Dhafra air base, Jebel Ali, and naval facilities at Fujairah. Enhancing security relations, has been a US arms sale in March 2000 to the Emirates, valued at $8 billion and included over $2 billion worth of weapons, munitions, and services.[22]

A nuclear deal was signed between the US and the UAE meant to supply nuclear technology, expertise and fuel. Despite international opposition to neighboring Iran’s nuclear developments, the US is confident of the UAE’s compliance with the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty and the International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards to refrain from enriching uranium and extracting plutonium.[23] It firmly believes this agreement "has the potential to usher in an era of responsible nuclear-energy development throughout the Middle East.”Global Security.org, "New U.S.-U.A.E. Deal Raises Eyebrows Amid Concern Over Iran's Nuclear Program," January 16, 2009[24]

Commercially, the UAE is also the States' largest export market in the Middle East constituting $11.6 billion in exports annually. In March 2005, the US opened negotiations on a free trade agreement and despite recent increasing depreciation of currencies in the Persian Gulf area, the UAE dirham remains pegged to the plunging dollar.[25] The two countries have also maintained close ties through an exchange of cultural and educational partnerships which include the Guggenheim Museum, and a number of American Universities opening campuses in the Emirates.[26]

Relations between Afghanistan are politically and economically strong. This is because the UAE has a small humanitarian military presence in Afghanistan. UAE troops have been welcomed by the country as allied Muslim soldiers and the Emirati soldiers compliment the Afghan hospitality they encounter.[29] Protests from Kabul arose when the victim in the torture tape with Issa bin Zayed Al Nahyan brutally beating a man who is believed to be an Afghan grain merchant that ripped him off for only $5,000.[30]

The diplomatic relations between Bangladesh and the United Arab Emirates are strong. The UAE is 2nd largest remittance country for Bangladesh after Saudi Arabia. The UAE also funds a lot of projects in Bangladesh.

UAE enjoys close economic and cultural relations with India. Close maritime contact between India and the Arabian Peninsula date back to 3rd and 2nd millennium BC.[31] and textile and spice trade between the two countries flourished during most of 1st millennium AD.[32]

The discovery of oil allowed the UAE to increase and diversify its trade relations with India. UAE and India are each other's main trading parthers. The trade totals over $75 billion (AED275.25 billion).[33] During the first half of 2010, non-oil trade between India and the UAE stood at US$20.4 billion.[34] UAE is home to more than 1.75 million Indian expatriates, making Indians the second largest ethnic group in the nation.[35]

The diplomatic relations between Indonesia and United Arab Emirates are important because both share the solidarity as Muslim majority countries, and both countries recognizes the important role of each counterparts in the region. Since the diplomatic relations established in 1976, both country enjoy friendly and cordial relationship. Indonesia has an embassy in Abu Dhabi, while the United Arab Emirates has an embassy in Jakarta. Both countries are partners in multilateral organizations, such as the World Trade Organization (WTO), The Non-Aligned Movement and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). Indonesia uses the UAE as the main gate to enter the Persian Gulf and Middle East market, Indonesia's export to UAE is the largest in the Middle East. Indonesian Government has established the trade and investment representative office to promote its products in United Arab Emirates and the entire Middle East region.

The UAE maintains very close economic ties with Iran based on long-standing relations, dating back hundreds of years. It also has a significant Iranian community. However, Iran claims three islands in the Persian Gulf (Abu Musa, Greater Tunb, and Lesser Tunb) which has been subject of dispute by the UAE.

As for the Iran's nuclear program, given that the UAE adopt the principle of not interfering in the internal matters of others, The UAE chose not to interfere with Iran's nuclear program as long as Iran continues to reassure the world that the program is peaceful. The UAE announced its position concerning all kinds of weapons of mass destruction is that the UAE calls for the freeing of the Middle East region from all such weapons.[citation needed]

The Iraqi invasion and occupation of Kuwait were a shock to the UAE. For the UAE, the crisis over Kuwait demonstrated a lack of Arab unity on a critical Arab issue. The UAE joined the Arab states that opposed the Iraqi invasion and supported the use of force to compel Iraq's withdrawal of troops from Kuwait.[36] Prior to the 2003 invasion of Iraq in 2003, the UAE opposed the US led invasion.

In June 2008, the Iraqi government announced that the United Arab Emirates would send an ambassador to Baghdad within a few days. This would become the first Arab ambassador in Iraq since the kidnapping and murder of the Egyptian Ambassador Ihab el-Sherif in July 2005. This announcement was made during a surprise visit by the United Arab Emirates' Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan to Baghdad on 5 June 2008. This marked the first time a high-ranking official from a Gulf state visited Iraq since March 2003.[37][38]

On 31 July 2007 following Iraq victory of the Asian Cup, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE awarded the Iraq National football team 20 million Dhs, ($5.2 million) for capturing the Asian Cup for the first time in the country’s history.[39]

Diplomatic relations between UAE and Japan were established as early as UAE's independence in December 1971.[40] The two countries had always enjoyed friendly ties and trade between each other, exports from UAE to Japan include crude oil and natural gas and imports from Japan to UAE include cars and electronics items.[40]

United Arab Emirates has an embassy in Kuala Lumpur, and Malaysia has an embassy in Abu Dhabi.[41] The countries established diplomatic relations in 1983.[42]

In 2005 Malaysia’s export to the UAE stood at Dh7 billion. Main export items were gold and jewellery, wood products (furniture and parts), palm oil, petroleum products and electrical appliances. In 2007, trade between Malaysia and UAE was worth MYR 14.56 billion making UAE, Malaysia's largest trading partner in West Asia as well as Malaysia being the 10th largest exporter to UAE.[43] In 2009, Malaysian ambassador Datuk Yahaya Abdul Jabar said total trade between Malaysia and UAE from January to November stood at RM19.5 billion. Malaysia's main exports to the UAE are jewellery, consumer electronics and palm oil.[44]

Pakistan and the UAE are very close allies with extremely close relations based on cultural affinities and shared faith. These relations date back to the UAE's formation in 1971, and have since developed into wide-ranging co-operation in various fields. UAE has been a major donor of economic assistance to Pakistan.[45]Sheikh Zayed International Airport in Rahim Yar Khan, in the Punjab province of Pakistan is an example of UAE's economic assistance as the late president and the founder of the UAE Sheikh Zayed donated the airport to the government of Pakistan.

Pakistan was also the first country to accord formal recognition to UAE on its achieving independence.[46] UAE has emerged as one of Pakistan's major economic and trading partners. A large number of Pakistani expatriates, numbering nearly 400,000 are gainfully employed in UAE.[citation needed]

United Arab Emirates has an embassy in Doha. In May 2017, the UAE cut diplomatic ties with Qatar. Islam Hassan argues "there has been always competition between al-Nahyans of AbuDhabi and al-Thanis of Qatar. This competition goes back to the 1800s. The Arab uprisings ushered a new chapter in the Qatari-Emirati competition. The competition led to the Emiratis playing a major role in the withdrawal of ambassadors from Qatar in 2014. At the beginning of the current diplomatic crisis, particularly after the hacking saga, UAE was trying to maintain the problem. Yet, Aljazeera's publishing of Yousuf al-Otaiba's leaked emails got the UAE on board with Saudi Arabia."[47][48]

The UAE’s liberal climate towards foreign cooperation, investment and modernization have prompted extensive commercial ties with western countries, and subsequently resulting in even closer cultural relations. The country remains a major global tourist and foreign direct investment destination but a few countries play a more significant role than the rest.

The UAE’s relationship with France has been strategically important as it negotiated a defence cooperation agreement and remains one of the country’s primary providers of military material.[51] France and the UAE have signed a defence cooperation agreement in order to diversity its procurement from solely the US.[51] Culturally, as the Sorbonne and Louvre are both establishing extensions in the UAE,[52] a plan is in the works to recreate a miniature Lyon city in Dubai complete with public squares, restaurants and museums.[53]

On May 25, 2009, the French president Nicolas Sarkozy visited the UAE, Abu Dhabi where he along with UAE's president H.H Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan formally opened a French military base in the United Arab Emirates. This would become France's first permanent base in the Persian Gulf, hosting up to 500 French troops.[54] In addition to the inauguration of Peace Camp, Nicolas Sarkozy visited the site of a Louvre Museum branch which France is opening in the United Arab Emirates. Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs, said that the co-operation with France is a top priority for the UAE's foreign policy.[55]

German exports amount to 5.84 billion Euros.[56] German companies significantly contribute to the UAE’s ongoing infrastructure projects and play a leading role in the country’s alternative energy developments.[57] Consequently, German Business Park, an area designed to house several of the already seven hundred present companies and their logistical needs, is in the midst of construction.[58]

The United Arab Emirates recognized Kosovo on 14 October 2008.[60][61] Kosovo plans to open an embassy in the UAE.[62] After the Serbian government launched a major offensive against the ethnic Albanian population in Kosovo in 1998, the UAE called for international intervention and commenced a major program of humanitarian relief through its Red Crescent Society. In 1999, the UAE was among the first non-NATO states to voice support for NATO's bombing campaign.[63] During the UN administration period, the UAE maintained almost 1,500 peacekeeping and special operations troops in Kosovo.[64] The UAE was the only Arab state to offer to participate in the Kosovo Force and its commitment was the first operational deployment of UAE forces outside the Middle East region.[63] As of October 2008, these forces remained in Kosovo and between 1998 and 2008, the aid given to Kosovo by the UAE’s Red Crescent Authority alone cost Dh125 million, the biggest international humanitarian mission in the UAE's history.[65]

Relations between Serbia and the United Arab Emirates have flourished in recent years. Serbia has an embassy in Abu Dhabi, and the UAE has an embassy in Belgrade. The UAE is now one of the top sources of FDI for Serbia.

Traditionally, links between the sheikhs of the lower Gulf and the United Kingdom were close as a result of a series of 19th-century maritime truces for the suppression of piracy. Since the British withdrew their military forces from the Persian Gulf in 1971, relations have remained friendly while the UAE has reorientated its foreign policy away from the former "colonial" relationship to one based on trade. Economically, the UAE is the UK’s largest export market for non-military goods in the Middle East.[66]

The UAE and Australia have begun establishing closer relations, recently the UAE Minister of Economy, Sultan Bin Saeed Al Mansouri visited Australia along with the UAE delegation - discussion focused on the development of a strategic partnership, financial services, trade and investment.[67][68][69]

Location and status of boundary with Saudi Arabia is not final, de facto boundary reflects 1974 agreement; no defined boundary with most of Oman, but Administrative Line in far north;

Claims three islands in the Persian Gulf that are part of Iran's territory: Lesser Tunb (called Tunb as Sughra in Arabic by UAE and Jazireh-ye Tonb-e Kuchak in Persian by Iran) and Greater Tunb (called Tunb al Kubra in Arabic by UAE and Jazireh-ye Tonb-e Bozorg in Persian by Iran);

Claims island in the Persian Gulf administered by Iran (called Abu Musa in Arabic by UAE and Jazireh-ye Abu Musa in Persian by Iran) - over which Iran has taken steps to exert unilateral control since 1992, including access restrictions and a military build-up on the island;

The UAE plays a growing role as a drug trafficking center due to its proximity to southwest Asian producing countries and the bustling free trade zone in Dubai. As a result, the UAE has one of the strongest anti-drug law enforcements, and the penalty of drug possession is very severe, so the government of UAE makes sure that tourists are warned of UAE drug laws before entering the country. One example of this is the seizure of drugs from different places.[72]

^"Yemen: UAE Backs Abusive Local Forces". Human Rights Watch. June 22, 2017. Human Rights Watch was not able to verify these claims, but according to lawyers and activists, as well as relatives of men who had been disappeared, the UAE was transferring high-level detainees outside of Yemen. According to one of the activists, about 15 people accused of being members of AQAP or IS-Y had been transferred to the base the UAE has been developing in Eritrea’s port city, Assab, over the past two years. A man whose relatives had been disappeared said at least five officials told him the UAE transferred the men outside of Yemen, including three who said the men were being held in Eritrea.

^"UAE recognises Kosovo". Emirates News Agency. 2008-10-14. Archived from the original on 2008-10-17. Retrieved 2008-10-14. In accordance with its firm support for the principle of the legitimate right of peoples to self-determination, the United Arab Emirates has announced its recognition of the Kosovo Republic as an independent and sovereign state.

^ abIbrahim Abed; Peter Hellyer (2001). United Arab Emirates, a new perspective. Trident Press. The UAE's active interest in the Balkans was again stimulated by the conflict in Kosovo, whose autonomous status within Serbia had been abolished in 1989. ...

^"UAE to Keep Troops in Kosovo". Global Policy Forum. Retrieved 2009-05-29. The commander of the United Arab Emirates military vowed on Monday to keep its peacekeepers in Kosovo for at least two more years, a mission that has raised the Gulf Arab state's international profile.